#or if the shapeshifter theory is right him just morphing constantly

[easybeezy]

I think the six ghouls will just be Haku and all his other personalities...zenji can come too

[mylovelyfandoms]

Joshua’s backstory

The Symbol of the Cloud

Basic Information

A/N: Sorry for the long wait!

Warning: mentions of blood, sharp objects, mentions of sexual abuse, slight angst

(GIF not mine) 

- Joshua life was perfect

- His parents loved him from the second that he was born

- So what if he was able to take pieces from the ground and move them around, he was still their child

- And Joshua’s parents would do anything for their child

- They kept him homeschooled, still letting him go out since they wanted him to have a normal life

- And it pretty much was for the most part

- Joshua’s parents let him hang out with the neighborhood boys as long as he didn’t use his powers

- He was the perfect child, despite some cases where he had snuck some cookies into his room, but what kid never got in trouble?

- Once Joshua turned five, his parents had ‘the talk’ with him

- They told him all about what he was and how everything would change from that day on

- They told him that even if he wasn’t able to show it off to people around him, he should still be proud of what he could do

- They told him that no matter what power he grew into, they would still love him and do whatever was best for him

- But as time went by, they couldn’t say they weren’t relieved that Joshua didn’t show any signs of powers

- So maybe they were lucky, they thought

- Maybe his powers just...faded away?

- It could be a possibility right?

- But the more Joshua’s parents researched the affected and the more they observed their son, they realized that his traits were almost exactly matching up to one of them

- The shapeshifters

- They weren’t sure, but the more they realized how sneaky and clever and ambitious Joshua was, they had to make sure

- Joshua was just getting home from playing at the park with the neighborhood kids

- When he walked into the house, his parents were sitting on the couches, waiting for him

- “Mom? Dad? What’s wrong?”

- Joshua’s parents let out a breath and started to explain their theory

- His father pulled out a piece of his own hair and handed it to Joshua

- We can test this, but only if you’re ready

- Joshua held onto the hair and nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on the hair in his hand like they told him to do

- Nothing happened for a second, but then the air around Joshua started to turn purple

- Slowly, his body was getting bigger and his features were changing into ones that resembled his dad

- Even though he could feel himself shifting, Joshua kept his eyes closed

- His father’s old shirt that he was wearing suddenly started to fit and his shorts were too tight on him 

- Joshua opened his eyes and everything was lower than he remembered

- He looked down at his hands and they were bigger and familiar, but not his

- When he looked at his parents, he saw their looks of disappointment

- Once they recovered from their shock that they were right, they put on masks of happiness and took the hair back from Joshua’s hand

- Joshua shifted back to his true form and climbed into his mother’s lap

- He hated the fake smile that she painted on her face to keep him from getting upset

- But he was upset...he knew that with his power he would only be a burden to his parents

- So as the fays passed, Joshua started to look more and more into the facilities he had constantly heard of

- Joshua was at home, waiting for his parents to come back from the grocery store

- He sat on the couch,  mirroring the expression that his parents had just a week ago

- When his parents finally stepped in, Joshua took a breath to calm his nerves

- “Jisoo? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

- His parents sat on the couch in the same spot that he had

- “I’ve been looking at these facilities, and I was just thinking...I’d really like to be around people like me.”

- Joshua’s parents exchanged a look and grabbed at one of the brochures, flipping through the pages

- Joshua swallowed, “I want to go to a facility. I think it’ll really be fun.”

- He didn’t want to mention that he was going to go for them, or else they’d just live in disappointment

- After a couple minutes, his parents finally set down the brochures

- “Okay, Jisoo. You can go to the facilities.”

- Joshua gave them a bright smile to hide the sinking feeling in his chest

- He ran to give them a  tight hug just to sell his happiness more and ran back to his room to pack

- The entire time Joshua was putting his belongings into a duffel bag, he had to convince himself not to run back down and tell them it was all a lie

- He had to convince himself that it was only going to be a month or so, that he would come back sooner or later

- When the day finally came, Joshua’s parents drove him to the soldier base in the land of the unaffected

- They explained to the soldiers how they had just found out that Joshua was a shifter and how they wanted to place him in a facility

- The soldiers gave Joshua’s parents a knowing look and took Joshua away

- Right when he was brought into a room alone with the soldiers, any sign of humanity that they showed to his parents was gone

- They threw a pair of gloves at him and threatened him if he even tried to move from his spot

- Despite their rudeness, Joshua still had hope for this place

- When he finally arrived at the facility, all of his hope faded away

- They brought him through the facility, letting him see all of the children working with faces that resembled dead fish

- He had even walked past a scene of a soldier beating down some poor elemental that dropped a brick on the floor

- Once Joshua got to the solitary wing, the soldiers shoved him into one of the testing rooms

- He waited anxiously, looking around the room at every single needle and knife there was

- Joshua was never really a fan of sharp things

- When the door opened, he gripped onto the chair 

- A doctor stepped into the room and didn’t even bother to look at him

- “Number 1230.”

- Joshua nervously gulped

- “My name is Joshua Hong.” 

- The doctor looked up from her clipboard and narrowed her eyes

- “You don’t get a name anymore. You don’t get anything that makes you feel human. You monsters don’t deserve that. You are number 1230.”

- Joshua stayed quiet for the rest of the time that he was tested

- Once they were done, the soldiers brought him into a room that was just plain white all over. 

- The only thing that stuck out in the room was a window that was taller than Joshua

- The soldiers pushed him in and shut the door, multiple locks clicking before it was just silent

- Joshua looked around, but there wasn’t much to look at 

- So he decided on sitting down in the corner, staring off into space and trying to convince himself that this was for the best

- He barely even knew he was crying until the collar of his shirt was soaked

- Days went by, Joshua didn’t know how many, and he was brought out of his room for the first time since he got there

- The soldier had a rough grip on his arm and swung Joshua onto one of the chairs in the testing room, telling him to stay

- Joshua stared after the soldier as she left and anxiously waited for the next thing to happen

- Once the door opened again, Joshua stiffened up 

- His eyes widened when he saw a boy that looked about his age walk in wearing the same reaction that Joshua had

- The boy took a seat in the empty chair in front of Joshua and glanced at the soldiers that were guarding the door

- “Hello...” The boy said in a shy tone

- He reminded Joshua of some of his old friends back at home

- The resemblance made Joshua’s chest ache, but he shoved the feeling away

- Joshua wanted to be positive in this horrible situation, so he decided to take advantage of this time that the facility gave him to be with someone his own age

- “Hi, I’m Joshua.”

 - The boy’s face morphed into slight confusion

- “I’m 1004″

- Now it was Joshua’s turn to be confused

- This kid’s name...was a number?

- “You don’t know your name?”

- “What’s a name?”

- Joshua was speechless

- How could a kid be this dumb?

- “A name is something your parents call you. What do your parents call you?” 

- ‘1004′ started to frown

- “I don’t know, I never met my parents.”

- That’s when Joshua realized

- This kid was probably raised at this place

- He’s probably never actually seen a person his age

- Joshua looked down at his hands, suddenly feeling guilty for thinking that he was dumb

- “Are...” Joshua looked up at the sound of the boy’s voice. “Are you a shifter, like me?” 

- Joshua let a small smile make its way to his face at the boy’s attempt of making small talk

- It was the first time he smiled since he got there

- “Yeah, I am.” 

- 1004 shyly smiled back, peeking at Joshua through his bangs every now and then

- “So, were you born here too?” 

- Joshua shook his head, mentally confirming his theory about the boy

- “No, I was just brought in a couple of days ago.”

- “Ah, so they must have been really nice to you.”

- Joshua furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at the soldiers at the door before leaning forward

- “Not really, they’ve been pushing me around and commanding to do stuff.”

- 1004 leaned in too

- “That’s them being nice, trust me.”

- For the rest of the time, the two boys chatted away, almost forgetting that there were armed soldiers watching their every move

- Joshua got to know the boy more and found that they were very similar in many ways

- The boy gave him all the information that he needed about the facility 

- But  Joshua was just glad to make a new friend

- When the soldiers commanded them to go back to their rooms, Joshua reluctantly left, not knowing when he would see 1004 again

- For the next couple of days, Joshua stayed in his room

- The soldiers only came and by to give him some food and water

- Joshua didn’t like how everyone around him always had hazmat suits on

- He thought back to 1004 and how he was the only humane thing about the place

- When Joshua was brought out next, he was hopeful and excited

- He was brought into a testing room and told to sit in the same chair he had a couple of days ago

- Joshua knew that the chair in front of him wasn’t there anymore, but he still hoped that 1004 would walk into the room

- Crushing his hopes and dreams, a scientist walked  in

- That day, Joshua realized exactly what types of painful testing 1004 had told him about

- From then on, Joshua was kept on a testing schedule

- Each day was different, but each week was the same

 - One day, a couple of months later, Joshua had dreamt about his parents

- That day, when the soldiers tried to bring him in for tests, he fought back

- Joshua struggled in their holds and managed to get his wrists free

- He ran down the hallway towards a door when a heavy weight hit his back and crushed him on the floor

- When the weight lifted, the soldier that just tackled him roughly brought him up by the shoulders

- “You’re going to the south wing.”

- Joshua remembered 1004 explaining what the south wing was and his blood went cold

- As the soldier dragged him down the hall, he looked around desperately for someone to help him

- The only other people was the other soldier that Joshua managed to escape from, and a shorter one that Joshua couldn’t quite see because of the hazmat suit

- No one was coming to his rescue

- When Joshua and the soldier finally got to the south wing, Joshua was thrown into a large cage like room

- The soldier stepped in and closed the door, cracking his neck and knuckles

- Joshua gulped as the large man stepped towards him and tried to cower back as much as possible

- He curled into a ball in the corner, but the soldier just grabbed him and threw him to the middle of the room

- Joshua’s head hit the floor and he let out a groan at the dizzy feeling that it caused

- Then the soldier ran up to him and started to kick the boy

- At first, Joshua let out screams and yelps of pain, but eventually, his entire body went numb

- He knew that he was still getting beaten, and the pain was still sharp in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t feel it

- He couldn’t feel anything anymore

- More months went by, and Joshua slipped into a numb state

- After his beating, he just went with everything that they did to him

- He couldn’t feel it anymore

- So one day when Joshua was sitting in the testing chair, he didn’t quite register that there was another chair right in front of him

- “Joshua?”

- At the sound of his name rather than his number, Joshua’s head snapped up

- When he saw 1004 sitting down in front of him, he felt a happiness that he hadn’t felt in a while

 - “10-4!”

- The nickname brought a smile on his friend’s face, making his smile grow bigger

- “So, I’ve been thinking, maybe it’s time you had a name.”

- The boy in front of him cocked his head to the side

- “Like a nickname?”

- Joshua shook his head and smiled. 

- “No, a name. Like a real name, not a number.” 

- Joshua loved the way that 1004′s eyes lit up at the suggestion

- Joshua thought to himself for a moment 

- “How about John? Does John sound nice?”

- He didn’t really think it would suit him, but it was the first name that came to mind

 - 1004 blinked a couple of times and leaned in as if he didn’t hear

- “Jeong?”

- “Uh...” Joshua looked at the boy and shrugged. “That works too.” 

- The boy paused for a moment. “It sounds a little plain, doesn’t it?”

- Joshua furrowed his eyebrows 

- “Uh...how about Jeong Jeong?” 

- 1004 scrunched his nose up

- “No way.”

- Joshua thought of a couple more combinations

- “Jeong...gguk?” 

- 1004 thought about for a little before shaking his head again

- After a couple of more suggestions getting shot down, Joshua started to get slightly impatient

- “Jeong...” Joshua let out a breathy sigh

- 1004 snapped his head up

- “Say that again.”

- Joshua blinked at him

- “Say what?”

- “What you just said, say it again!”

- Joshua furrowed his eyebrows. “Jeong...ha?”

- 1004′s eyes lit up and he clapped

- “Jeonghan! My name is Jeonghan.”

- Joshua smiled at the name that seemed to suit his friend well

- “I can call you ‘Hannie’. It sounds like ‘honey’.”

- “What’s honey?”

- Joshua’s face fell and he started to get into a long explanation about what honey is and what bees were and what pollination was

- Once their time was up, Joshua went back to his room, feeling happier than he had all month

- The next day, Joshua was brought into the testing room and he saw the same chair sitting across from him

- Hopeful, Joshua quickly took his seat and anxiously stared at the door

- Joshua barely paid attention to the three soldiers that were guarding the room

- When Jeonghan walked in, Joshua gave him a bright smile as he took a seat

- There was something about the atmosphere that the boys just knew that they weren’t supposed to talk

- The scientist that had been doing all the tests on Joshua walked in with a clipboard and the usual frown on her face

- “1004, 1230,” She greeted. 

- Joshua cringed when she called his number

- He didn’t ever want Jeonghan to know his number

- He didn’t want his friend to know the label that took his humanity away from him

- “If you both cooperate, this will be over before you know it.”

- Joshua watched as the scientist snapped on a pair of gloves

- She pulled a strand of hair from Jeonghan’s head, having him wince 

- She yanked on Joshua’s wrist and opened his palm, placing the hair in it

- “Shift.”

- With a small glance at Jeonghan, Joshua closed his eyes and started to focus on the hair

- He felt his features shifting slightly and opened his eyes again when he knew he was done

- Joshua saw the shock on Jeonghan’s face and shifted under his gaze

- “Woah,” Jeonghan mumbbled

- Joshua looked at the scientist and his eyes widened when he saw her grabbing a scalpel from a tray 

- Before Joshua could react, the scientist grabbed Jeonghan’s arm and brought the scalpel to his outer forearm

- Joshua watched in horror as she dragged the blade up, blood peeking out of the incision

- When she finished, she turned to Joshua

- Joshua’s heart skipped a beat in fear as she grabbed onto his wrist

- He closed his eyes and looked away, not wanting to see her cut into him

- But when he felt nothing, he opened his eye and saw the scientist tutting at him and placing the knife down

- She looked at her watch and turned to the soldiers that were guarding the door

-  “Alert me if there are any changes in ten minutes. And don’t let 1230 shift back to his form.”

- The soldiers nodded  and Joshua kept his head turned to make sure she was out of the room before he snapped his head to Jeonghan

- “Are you okay?”

- Joshua felt a sense of helplessness as Jeonghan winced and moved his arm to show Joshua

- Joshua stood up an reached forward to inspect it better, but he felt the hair slip out of his hold in the process

- He stood still, paralyzed in fear as he felt himself shift back to his true form

- Joshua held his breath, having the childish hope that if he stayed still no one would see him

- “Hey!” The soldiers deep voice boomed in the room, making Joshua let out a shaky breath

- He could hear the soldier talk into the radio that connected to his earpiece

- “I’m sorry,” Joshua whimpered, hating the way his voice was so shaky. “I’m so so sorry. Please, please don’t hurt me.” 

- Joshua finally found the ability to move and staggered back to his seat

- He buried his head in his hands, scolding himself for being so stupid

- When he heard the door open, his heart started to pound faster

-  “You couldn’t even follow directions for 5 minutes? Typical useless affected,” The scientist spat

- Joshua carefully looked up from his hands 

- “Please don’t hurt me,” He begged, although he knew that it would do no good

- The scientist just scoffed and pulled another strand of hair out of Jeonghan’s head

- This time, he didn’t even try to wince

- The scientist grabbed a piece of tape from one of the drawers and taped it to Joshua’s palm

- Without a word, Joshua closed his eyes and shifted back into Jeonghan’s body

- Though this time, once he finished shifting, he felt a sharp and stinging pain on his arm, making him yell out

- When he looked at his arm, he saw the same incision that the scientist had just cut into Jeonghan’s arm

- “Fascinating...” The scientist muttered, crouching down to look at the incision

- Joshua stared at her and gulped

- He just had to ask

- “Does this mean I’m not getting punished?”

- Once the scientist heard Joshua’s voice, she snapped her head up at him and her face turned sour

- She tore the hair out of his palm and wrapped her hand around his wrist, dragging him out of the chair and out of the room

- Joshua sent a look back, desperately trying to find help

- Though Joshua thought he would be brought into the south wing, the scientist took him to his room

- She threw him in the middle and exchanged a few words with the guards before stepping in and closing the door

- Joshua backed up to the wall and watched as she stepped out of her hazmat suit and threw it to the side

- “You’re such a bad boy.”

- She stalked towards him like a predator sneaking up on its prey

- “Do you not think you deserve a punishment?”

- Joshua curled into himself, trying to protect himself from whatever would happen next

- He heard the sound of clothes dropping on the floor and held himself tighter

- Joshua let out a small yelp when he felt two hands on him, forcing him out of his protective ball

- The room filled with noises of clothes ripping and Joshua’s muffled screams as she had her way with him. 

- After she left, he sat in a far corner in the room, staring at the spot where it all happened

- He was blank and his whole body felt dirty

- He desperately wanted his shower, but he knew that they would only let him the next morning

- The next couple of days were horrible

- He didn’t feel safe anymore

- Every time he saw her, she would act like nothing happened

- And every time she reached forward to touch him, he flinched away

- Whenever her hands touched his skin, his mind would replay the vivid memory of that night and he would suddenly feel dirty all over again

- He barely slept at night, in fear of something happening to him

- The next couple of years were complete hell

- He was miserable and scared and he couldn’t do anything about it

- Even when he saw Jeonghan, it wasn’t the same

- He still felt the usual happiness whenever he saw his friend and it would always bring him away from the horrors of reality when he was with him

- But every time Jeonghan reached forward, Joshua flinched back hard 

- Jeonghan always pretended not to notice, but Joshua could see the concern that covered his face

- He just tried to stay happy for Jeonghan, knowing that he needed the happiness and that Joshua needed the distraction

- And as time went by, Joshua barely got better

- He just tried to follow every instruction, doing whatever he could too prevent being punished  again

- Joshua’s mind was just in auto drive

- The only things he felt were numbness, panic, and the occasional distracted and temporary joy when he was around Jeonghan

-  He didn’t even notice the alarms that rang outside of his cell or the light that was only slightly brighter than the moonlight peeking in through his window

- He barely even registered the time where the soldiers stepped into his room in the middle of the night to make sure he was in there

- It was the day that Joshua would see Jeonghan again

- There was a small feeling of excitement in the back of his mind as he took a seat, but it was so dull and far away, almost as if it wasn’t there

- Joshua stared at the chair in front of him, waiting for it to get filled by his friend

- When he heard the door open, he didn’t even look up, just waiting for Jeonghan to sit down

- Instead, he heard the two soldiers step forward, but he still didn’t look up

- Only when he heard them start choking did Joshua snap his head up

- Joshua saw the two soldiers grasping onto their necks with wide eyes, opening their mouths and trying to get air

- They sank down to their knees with a thud and Joshua didn’t even feel guilty for the fact that seeing this brought him a small, sadistic sense of joy

- When the soldiers fell limp to the floor, Joshua turned to the person at the door and saw a boy that looked slightly familiar

- “Joshua, right?” He asked, having Joshua nod

- “I’m S. Coups. You’re getting out of here.”

- S. Coups shot Joshua a smile and he felt a small and familiar feeling of hope rise in him, but he shoved it back down in fear of getting disappointed

- S. Coups shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out a large feather, making Joshua raise an eyebrow

- “Here, shift into this bird. It’s pretty big so you can carry your clothes. Fly to the left and all the way to the end of the hallway. On the right, there should be a window open at the end of that hallway. From there, keep flying straight and you should be able to see someone crouching at the trees just outside of the facility’s walls. That’s Woozi, he’s with me. Stay with him and wait while I get your friend, okay?”

- Joshua blinked at him, taking in all of the information that he was just given

- With a nod, Joshua reached forward and grabbed the feather, shifting into a larger bird than he had ever shifted into before

- S. Coups ran out into the hallway and Joshua went down to grab his clothes in his talons

- When he managed to pick them up, he took a breath and leapt up, giving him a jump start as he started to flap his wings

- It took him a moment, but when he finally got used to his wings, he flew out of the room and into the direction that S. Coups instructed 

- In the hallway, he flew past S. Coups and another boy who were standing at the sides of the hallway and waiting

- As he soared through the sky and past the facility walls, he felt a small wave of relief

- He was finally able to leave the place of his misery

- He was finally able to leave her

- When he saw the boy that S. Coups mentioned crouching behind a tree, he landed a couple trees behind him, changing into his clothes before quietly approaching him

- “Woozi?” Joshua tentatively called, having the boy snap his head around

- “Get over here,” Woozi said, nodding Joshua over

- Joshua quietly walked to where Woozi was and crouched down next to him

- “What’s your name?”

- “Joshua.”

- “Nice to meet you, welcome to freedom.”

- Joshua found himself genuinely smiling for the first time in years

- He was free

- A couple of moments later, Joshua heard a familiar laugh and snapped his head to the direction of it

- Jeonghan and the boy from the hallway appeared, panting from the sprint that they just did

- “Joshu-ji,” Jeonghan called with a small smile

- “Hey, Hannie,” Joshua smiled back, making Jeonghan’s face light up

- “Where’s S. Coups?” Woozi asked, having Jeonghan and Joshua bring his attention to the other two boys

- “He’s trying to get away from the guards in the front. He told us to go first,” The other boy replied before turning to Joshua and Jeonghan. “I’m Hoshi, by the way. This is Woozi.”

- Right then, S. Coups slid past them, scrambling back to the spot they were in once he saw them

- “Let’s head back to camp,” S. Coups panted

- Woozi led the way back to the ‘camp’ that they were building

- He started explaining that the clan they were starting was called ‘Seventeen’ and how they already have a couple of members

- Joshua tuned in and out, looking around at all of the familiar scenes as they walked through the forest

- He reached out and touched as many trees as he could, and felt himself feeling slightly at peace

- Maybe I’ll get better...

- When they got to the camp, S. Coups led them into his tent

-  “We’re going to break in and rescue more people like us,” S. Coups explained

-  “We’re starting with the people we know, and then we’re going to get more and more until there’s no one else to torture and test in that facility,” Woozi added.

- “Are you with us? Because we need all the numbers we can get,” Hoshi asked. 

- Joshua glanced at Jeonghan and the two shared a look

- Before Joshua could say anything, Jeonghan spoke up

- “We’re with you.” 

- Joshua snapped his head to Jeonghan, but didn’t say anything in fear of getting kicked out

- Though, as time went by, S. Coups seemed to have sensed Joshua’s apprehensiveness

- He always asked Joshua if he wanted to go on the missions and always assured him that there would be nothing bad that happened if he refused

- And whenever he did refuse, S. Coups respected it 

- When he finally decided to go on one, S. Coups didn’t make a big deal out of it, just explaining to him exactly what they did

- Joshua always stayed close with Jeonghan, his touch being the only one that he didn’t flinch at

- He slowly started to get better, learning how to let himself feel more positive emotions than negative

- He made friends with all of the members of the clan and got even closer to Jeonghan

- Joshua finally started to feel safe again.

[nyklifsondiviiportfolio-blog]

Are you a: Boy? Girl? Alien? Cyborg?

November 29, 2015

Professor Loza, Hampshire College

Introduction:

There aren’t a lot of representations of non-binary people, even less of people of color who are non-binary in science fiction and fantasy. In the media, and every day. While this isn’t surprising that means theorists have to take a more critical look at gender-bending narratives. Some ways in which normal gender roles are blurred in science fiction and fantasy: shape shifting, time travel, and cross-dressing. The main two points I will be discussing though, are cyborgs and aliens. Both are crafted bodies that allow for varying gender creations.

In my research I realized that there aren’t many examples of canonical genderfluid characters and that the examples given by theorists who do approach this topic are a bit of a stretch. I will be discussing the monstrous queering of gender in cyborgs, shapeshifters, and aliens. In realizing that there aren’t many fantastical non-binary options to unpack I looked for transgender characters, but similar to the media’s depiction--there isn’t one. Not until recently, in American contexts, have trans* characters and people become slightly more visible. Albeit, these are not always positive images, but all press is good press right? Wrong. Most are white transgender females who are being fetishized completely cutting off the voices of queer people of color and first nation two spirit individuals.

In addition there are little to no academic sources on this topic by transgender individuals. This is because there is barely any source material to begin with, on top of the limited amount of transgender people who are able to be educated in the area of identity politics (Bornstein et al. 198). Fictional universes within the context of science fiction and fantasy seem to be an excellent place for gender binaries to be skewed and a way for non-binary characters to become more accepted images. In this paper I look into the examples--and lack--of nonbinary culture mainly in the context of feminist, queer, and racial theories pertaining to fantastical or science fiction content.  

Trending Genders that you Might not Think are Queer:

Many forms of genderqueering exist that I could have discussed such as the plethora of cross-dressing in anime and other tv shows. Yet, that is not embodying a gender identity, that is merely passing within preconceived social constructs (Melzer 234). For example Ax from the Animorphs series is a Yeerk alien who takes DNA from the two girls and two boys of the series and mixes that together to create a human morph--a morph that he can go to the mall looking like. The human form is said to look like a very feminine boy or masculine girl, not placing him anywhere on the gender spectrum performance-wise.  His “fluid body enables her an adaptive identity, which challenges the stable sex/gender/ sexuality correlation without erasing the materiality of the body”(Melzer 234). Being an alien already other’s him on top of the fact he is ambiguously brown in appearance due to one of the main character’s being black. This alien is faced with prejudice due to forced assimilation and not passing fully as male and being a person of color (Cohen 445). So when he starts trying food in the mall’s food court, he is chased by mall cops very quickly.  

There are children’s books about girls who dress as boys to be able to be soldiers or knights. One example Is “The Song of the Lioness” series by Tamora Pierce. Alana, the hero, dresses as a boy until she is knighted. She binds with cloth wrapping and talks deeper as the boys she is growing up with go through puberty. Meanwhile she has no idea what to do when she gets her period. Her being in a supposed man’s position blurs the lines of her gender even after her secret is let out. In addition many examples of historical fiction exist about white women fighting in the civil war. These tropes and people subvert gender divides but still identify as cisgender. In addition are able to pass more easily due to being white, which is a harsh reality. Which, in the end, gives them a privilege after the battle where a gender nonconforming character and person live on gender lines (Bornstein et al. 268).

Technologically Created Bodies:

Fans all over have questioned BMO’s gender, wondering if they are a girl or boy. Pendleton Ward has released multiple statements saying that BMO is a robot and therefore has no gender. This reflects on how society today needs to consume culture. The audience is not used to a character that lives outside of binary standard, and will not accept this reality. The problem is, just like real non-binary people, society can not accept what is in front of them. “Cyborgs might consider more seriously the partial, fluid, sometimes aspect of sex and sexual embodiment” (Stryker 115). In the gender-bender episodes of the show, BMO is the only one who remains unchanged in appearance. In addition, BMO is referred to by characters as both M’lady, and with he/him pronouns.

BMO has an alternate self, when talking to themselves, named Football. Football calls herself a baby girl while BMO calls himself a baby boy, but both are the same robot. BMO in the episode “Football” comes out to their friends as Football and wants everyone to call them by that name after switching places with their mirror self, similar to when transgender people are transitioning from dead names (Bornstein et al. 199). The agendered character BMO is possible in a post-apocalyptic world which “is also an effort to contribute to socialist-feminist culture and theory in a postmodernist, non-naturalist mode and in the utopian tradition of imagining a world without gender, which is perhaps a world without genesis, but maybe also a world without end”(Haraway 2). This little robot was built to be human-like and able to imagine, as found out from their creator in the episode “B More.” That is why BMO is married to a bubble who is has no defined body or gender and dates a female hen on the show. They are free from a gendered body and in a time of candy people and vampires, why would a robots gender matter?

BMO is able to transcend gender binaries because they are a robot (Bornstein et al. 169). Pronouns are fluid for them being referred to from “it” to “her.” The female identity is internalized whereas BMO’s masculine detective episode and being a their creator’s son is external relating to common cyborg body politicking. Robots have been used to be characters that are an “alternative narrative of cyberpunk identity that begins with the assumption that bodies are always gendered and always marked by race...Thus, the more important dividing line” for a robotic body “is between material connection and virtual connection, not between female-body-in-connection and male-body-in-isolation”(Vint 116).  A created body is in theory able to go beyond racial and gender lines, but this is still within a gendered and racialized culture that these stories are being told (Vint 117). BMO is a green little robot, does that make them a person of color on the show? The only human without gills is a white cisgendered male boy, while everyone else is some kind of monster that came out toxic waste. Except BMO is a created companion with their own agenda.

Androgynous Aliens:

Many literary examples of androgyny from the 70’s and 80’s appeared alongside second wave feminism. Creating an androgynous culture meant creating one where women were equal, in power, and able to be masculine (Annas 145). For example, in The Woman From Space uses “it” as a pronoun for love interest Lella at first, a dominant and masculine woman-ish from the planet Aronia. It is powerful, beautiful, tall, strong, and an intelligent scientist. Yet Lella’s femininity shines through as she forms a heterosexual relationship with the man who first meets her, Sarrazin from Earth. Both planets are set in gender binaries that oppose the other possibly queering the relationship they have. But, like most sci-fi feminist novels, it is a stretch (Larbalestier 76-78) Some books contained all female societies where women had learned how to clone themselves negating the usefulness of men.

The main example I will be delving into is one of the more famous books of the feminist science fiction genre, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. The novel takes place in two societies called Karhide and Orgoreyn. They live on a planet called Gethen. The planet is populated by hermaphrodites who only have a chosen gender expression during “kenmer.” The theme of androgyny is used to represent different forms of bigotry being displayed in the human race and how having a “race of androgynes who live harmonious, peaceful lives” is used as a “cure for gender bifurcation and decisive hierarchies”(Pearson 28). This was the first famous creation of a queer utopia, that wasn’t so utopian. Androgynous societies often either show the shortcomings in our own or are meant as a plot point of a peaceful option that is “agendered. “

Gethenian believe that everyone else is disgusting. The king calls others with constant sexes “a society of perverts”(Le Guin 21).Whereas the human Genly, who is there to try to get them to join an intergalactic peaceful “Authority” is constantly being shocked by their gender incontinuity. He refers to almost every being with he/him/his pronouns no matter how femme they seem. He still is seeing through a binary lens, “I tried to, but my efforts took the form of self-consciously seeing a Gethenian first as a man, then as a woman, forcing him into those categories so irrelevant to his nature and so essential to my own. Thus as I sipped my smoking sour beer I thought that at table Estraven's performance had been womanly, all charm and tact and lack of substance, specious and adroit. Was it in fact perhaps this soft supple femininity that I disliked and distrusted in him? For it was impossible to think of him as a woman, that dark, ironic, powerful presence near me in the firelit darkness, and yet whenever I thought of him as a man I felt a sense of falseness, of imposture: in him, or in my own attitude towards him? His voice was soft and rather resonant but not deep, scarcely a man's voice, but scarcely a woman's voice either”(Le Guin 10). Genly, pronounced Genry by Gethenians, is in constant culture shock due to the gender fluidity of locals. The belief that any type of variant gender expression is wrong and shunned while being exoticised is similar to the sentiments felt today.  It also existed in the late sixties when this book was written. The main character has his room showed by his “landlady”(Le Guin 26). He is a spectacle. This is similar to transgender women in mainstream media.

Ursula K. Le Guin made monstrous images of alien people of colour and an ignorant black both entrenched in racism. The king asks Genly if everyone is “as dark as him”(Le Guin 21). While aliens at the “Voluntary Farm” are described as growing darker. Yet they earlier are described as red-to-brown colouring with many inhabitants matching Genly’s skin colour. The author uses racist imagery of developing darkness as evil or traitorous. This idea is affirmed when Estraven early on explains patriotism as “I mean fear. The fear of the other. And its expressions are political, not poetical: hate, rivalry, aggression”(Le Guin 14). She explains this to show how “in these binaries a nostalgic longing for nature, a Rousseauistic desire for a community unfettered by the violence of cultural systems”(Namaste 223) exists no matter the society. The only way to break free is to escape, which is what Genly does.  

The problem is that a lot of early feminist science fiction books with genderbending narratives are written by men, so therefore sexist. In Woman’s World the conclusion involves the way to solve gender differences is for men to gift women more responsibilities. How nice of men. What a lovely, yet misogynistic, sentiment. The Disappearance by Philip Wylie has a similar message (Larbalestier 79). The ending does state by multiple characters that “sex” is a woman + a man. To separate the two creates havoc, but this is just by heteronormative standards(84). What about the lesbians? What about the asexuals? So much of gender ideals in this gender are based on physicalities. What genitalia is “female” what bodies are “male” and going off of masculine and feminine societal ideals. In addition, when talking about bodies race never is discussed, in fact there are no black men in the book (Larbalestier 85). The women are called a “coloured colony” living in tents behind white women’s houses. Being owned by them. The ideas are along the lines of everyone is equal and similar sentiments and now that people realize that everything is going to be ok. As if all who identify as male or female have equity within those labels (Larbalestier 80). There is a plethora of role reversing novels in feminist science fiction, written by men, as a way for males to understand their privilege. And the books that are written by women are mostly white women who are internally oppressing themselves without realizing it and using racist imagery that has been normalized by white male science fiction writers.  

Conclusion:

The failures of articles on cross-dressing, androgyny, and any kind of gender blurring. In other words, how word transgender seems to be invisible in academia while also in white feminist based theory. Society thinks of the wish to cross dress as a sexual fantasy, so it makes sense that hermaphroditism and greying of gender lines in more commonly accepted in the fantasy genre. But, there is little to no representation and the theory reflects,“one of the great failings of queer theory and especially queer politics has been their inability to incorporate into analysis of the world and strategies for political mobilization the roles that race, class, and gender play in defining people’s differing relations to dominant and normalizing power”(Cohen 457). Cyborgs are created bodies similar to the created bodies transgendered people and transvestites medically create through hormones and surgery. To have a nonbinary character on a popular children’s TV show is a good step towards more fantastical interpretations of gender besides Androgynous aliens and other monsters.

Bibliography:

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